Women's panel says it's fed up with women-only panels and wants more men

Women business leaders have said Australia must move beyond segregated "women in startups" events and that the country should push for stronger investment in female-led businesses while drawing more male founders into the conversation.

At a panel during Melbourne startup festival Pause Fest on Wednesday, entrepreneurs including cryptocurrency startup Liven co-founder Grace Wong and co-founder of women's football boot brand Ida Sports, Laura Youngson, said the country's startup sector would have made progress once "you don't have to have a special segment of women".

Moving to this point means focusing on diverse founder teams and bringing male startup founders into the conversation, the panel said.

Youngson said having a male co-founder in Ben Sandhu had been a great experience. Investors and potential partners still routinely direct inquiries to him despite them being Youngson's responsibility, but she says Sadhu is "able to call this out in a way that I cannot" when it happens.

Managing director of product development Supernova and co-founder of beauty subscription business Bella Box, Sarah Hamilton, said she had been successful in raising millions in capital in the past by being nimble and using what would traditionally be considered less traditional pitching skills, including adapting the pitch.

"I think it was my soft skills, which as a generalisation are female, which got us those deals," she said.

Grace Wong rejected the suggestion that being a woman co-founder had blocked her from investment options.

"For me, I feel like I was actually exposed to better opportunities," she said.